Movies: Past, present and future

New Wes Anderson film heading to theaters

May 2, 2011 | 6:28pm

Wes Anderson fans yearning to see a new live-action film from the director will be satisfied: His upcoming “Moonrise Kingdom” has been acquired by a U.S. distributor.

Worldwide rights to the movie have been acquired by Focus Features, and the film will be brought out in the U.S. after it’s completed, the company said Monday. Shooting has just gotten underway, which means it could be some, but not an inordinately long, time before audiences can see it.

The 1960s-set film tells of a young boy and girl on a coastal New England city who run away together, with the town then thrown into chaos looking for them. Newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward play the boy and girl, with Bruce Willis as a sheriff, Edward Norton as a camp leader and Bill Murray and Frances McDormand playing the girl's parents.

Anderson last brought out a live-action movie in 2007, with the India-set dysfunctional-family comedy “The Darjeeling Limited.” (In 2009 he came with the offbeat animated picture "Fantastic Mr. Fox.") "Moonrise" marks the director’s first return to period storytelling since “The Royal Tenenbaums” a decade ago.